My boyfriend and I are challenging ourselves each month for the rest of our lives. On the first day of each month we will draw one of our 10 challenge options ~ if you have a challenge idea please feel free to let us know!
Our inspiration for completing each challenge is our daughter, Annabelle, who was born sleeping at 31 weeks gestation. She is our hope, our light, our sunrise, our sunset, and our life. We want to live our lives to the fullest so we can live for her.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

1. How to make money from my blog (thanks to http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/05/how-to-make-money-from-your-blog/)
2. Life is not about money, but it sure as hell eases the way
3. Boys like to party, it's inevitable
4. I should not leave my contacts in for over 24 hours
5. I hate doing dishes (hard to say if I learned that today, or years ago)
6. How a human's metabolism works
7. I have 2 best friends - Ian and Foog
8. I hate going to the bar and spending $$
9. One way flights from Europe to Canada are way more expensive than one way flights from Canada to Europe
10. Blackberry's suck (y's or ies for that one?)
11. How to change ink cartridges in my printer
12. My Mom becomes distracted extremely easily, but not as easily as my Nan
13. Crickets piss me off and keep me up until 2am
14. I cannot avoid babies, nor blissfully ignorant pregnant women.
15. Pizza doesn't taste as good as it did 3 years ago
16. How to check ink levels on a mac
17. What a blog carnival is
18. Fresh air makes it easier to withdraw from depression
19. Being honest is the only way to live! As of today, I will always be honest. I kind of don't care who it offends.
20. Nail salons always create a thinner gel line on your nail bed because they want you to come back in 2 weeks for a fill. No, thank you.
21. My boyfriend can be extremely lazy when it comes to household chores
22. If I could live in my bed, I would
23. My sister is a country fanatic
24. Age doesn't mean shit. When I think about being "19" I need to laugh, literally, out loud. Feels more like 30.
25. I avoid confrontations at all costs.
26. My friend Charlotte leaves for England on September 1st :(
27. Apparently Canadians say "aboot" instead of "about".. what the heck is up with that? A customer on the phone today told me he was surprised I said "about" instead of "aboot" after I told him I'm from Ontario. Very odd.
28. Since Barack Obama became USA's president, residents of the states no longer need to claim they are from Canada when traveling the World (explained by the same customer above)... ha!
29. No one will catch me if I slack off at work!
30. Life is short. 9/11 changed so many lives, and the death of my daughter has changed mine. (I had no idea until today how many people were indirectly affected by 9/11... this article is a great read: http://charter.net/news/read.php?id=17163473&ps=1011&cat=&cps=0&lang=en)

Friday, August 26, 2011

1. My hair is really long. I keep thinking I'll cut it when it stops growing, but it doesn't stop growing.
2. I love cooking.. e v e r y t h i n g.
3. My Nana is the best grandmother in the entire world.
4. Cheerios are my favourite... just plain. Not chocolate. Not honey nut. PLAIN, OLD SCHOOL CHEERIOS. *
5. I think nature is beautiful, and giving life to plants is our only opportunity to play God.
6. I want 5 children. Annabelle was my first, and I hope she is not my last.
7. I love getting my nails done, and acting super girly for Annabelle.
8. I'm scared of driving, but I do it anyway.
9. Candles do not serve any purpose for me. Open a window, fresh air is better than wax air.
10. My bff Krista wrote a rap ~ it will blow your mind away. Link: http://www.facebook.com/krista.catania#!/video/video.php?v=10150287063738788&comments
11. I FINALLY have our Euro trip planned!
12. I love white kitchens.
13. I painted my bookshelf black with white polka dots on the outside, and white with black polka dots on the inside.
14. I wear my Annabelle necklace every day. It is made of pink and white swarvoski crystals.
15. There is nothing like Toronto's street meat.
16. I can't skate, and I can only semi-rollerblade.
17. There are 2 huge dogs fighting outside my back window right now.. eek
18. I love my Mom!
19. I wish I wasn't scared of tanning beds so that I could get a fake bake and be all cool lookin'.
20. I've been denied a Canadian Tire Mastercard 3 times, but I will try again today.
21. My rogers internet bill is months overdue (probably why I'm being denied a new credit card.. ha).
22. Ian James McRae is my boyfriend and I will love him to infinity and beyond.
23. My psychic, Ezter (not Esther.. Ezter), says I will not look youthful in a few more years due to the longness of my fingers. Apparently only people with short fingers will be young forever. Booo!
24. I wish I were an oscar meyer weiner. kidding!
25. I love arts and crafts ~ always have, always will.
26. If I had nothing to do, I would sit in front of a fireplace with a white wool blanket, hot chocolate (with extra marshmallows) in hand, and watch Pretty in Pink.
27. I hate working, but love that it gives me an excuse to not keep the house clean.
28. The friends I have made on my journey through grief are all phenomenal. I love them all so much, and I would never be where I am today without their ongoing support and enlightenment.
29. I want to start a photography business when I come back from Europe.
30. Scrapbooking is AWESOME!

Monday, August 22, 2011

1. Figure out entire trip to Europe.
2. Pack for Europe.
3. Figure out if it would be easier to take large backpacks or a suitcase to Europe.
4. Pack the entire apartment.. in 3 weeks.
5. Figure out moving dates.
6. Find people to help us move.
7. Get rid of A LOT of clothes in my small closet.
8. Pay off VISA
9. Make $$, maybe take some overtime at work
10. Create a list for UTPAIL (United Through Pregnancy and Infant Loss)
11. Cancel Rogers internet
12. Change phone plan
13. Empty vase in kitchen and replace with new flowers
14. Get on Ian's ass about changing the bathroom door that he punched, and left a hole in, months ago
15. Get on Ian's ass about fixing the kitchen drawer.
16. Clean. Even when you think you've cleaned everything, there is always more to do.
17. Laundry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
18. Make a list of all my BLM's baby angel dates.
19. Sell the stuff on kijiji for Mom
20. Annabelle's birthday scrapbook
21. Drop off Bingo donations at the Leacock Home
22. Read the Book of Awesome
23. Call Nana (will do that right now)
24. Go for a run, live healthy!
25. Transfer everything on computer to external harddrive
26. Tell Ian how awesome he is!
27. Buy some berries
28. Learn how to use self tanner
29. Start "Annabelle's Seashell"
30. LEARN TO LOVE LIFE!

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

1. I'm still growing
2. I like black and red and gold
3. Mowing the lawn is my business
4. T-Rex is my favorite dinosaur
5. I love history
6. And I love Rebecca more than history and math combined
7. My dog's name is Skye
8. Hardtalk is my favorite show
9. One of my many dreams is to craft a hammer made out of worldly relics
10. Younger sister- Sarah. Brother - Jonathan
11. I don't sleep that much
12. Napoleon didn't sleep much either
13. I enjoy beers with wings
14. Most of my friends have been my friends since I was a kid
15. Hate being tickled!
16. Tomorrow I plan to watch "Rise of the Planet of the Apes"
17. I like gardening and yard work to a lesser degree
18. My dream car is an ass kickin Mustang convertible
19. Rebecca and I are going to Europe October 1st :) wooohooo
20. My family is awesome
21. I have a booming book collection
21a. Very few of my books are fictional literature
22. Every summer I get earaches from swimming
23. My favorite summer pass-time is to go swim-net-fishing, love it
24. Current rent: $375
25. Best word I can think of at this moment: Kronos
26.Three maps are on my bedroom wall: of France, of the Middle East, and the World (1972)
27. My dream job is to be the Minister of Education
28. I'm craving grilled cheese
29. This past Saturday I went to Wakestock... rocked it
30. After I'm done this list, Becca will probably jump on her computer and read this ;)
31. Aha! I tease people like Becca xoxoxoxoxoxo....... and my Mom lol

Saturday, August 6, 2011

1. On road trips I spent plenty of time staring at the wires that moved from telephone pole to telephone pole. If you look closely, the wires are further apart in the centre than they are when they reach the pole. For some reason, this entranced me.
2. I had a doll named Angela, with a moon on her forehead.
3. I had a beanie baby whom I named Mittens, although her beanie name was Flip.
4. My parents spent all their time loving me. I had a wonderful childhood.
5. After kindgarten, I would arrive home to watch Leave It to Beaver and Young and The Restless with my Nana.
6. My Nana was my babysitter.
7. My sister's friend's Mom gave me Portuguese lessons.. I don't remember anything I learned.
8. My Nana lived a few blocks away, and I was allowed to bike ride to her house all alone for the first time when I was in grade 3.
9. I loved playing Barbies.
10. I loved making my sister be the "animals".. she was never allowed to be a Barbie.
11. I had a wide collection of Beanie Babies.
12. My Mom always dressed me and my sister up in the same outfits, different colours.
13. I remember seeing my mostrous sized brother in the NICU.
14. In Grade 2, we learned where babies come from (not how they're made, just where they come from).
15. My Mom went through her pregnancy in my second grade year, thus she came into the class for monthly visits so we could learn all about how a baby grows.
16. JK teacher: Mrs Hazlett
17. SK teacher: Mrs Conroy
18. Grade 1 teacher: Mrs Billings
19. Grade 2 teacher: Mrs Andrews
20. Grade 3 teacher: the evil witch, Mrs. McEachreon (Mc-Each-Re-On.. we were taught, daily, how to spell it).
21. Grade 4 teacher: Mrs Dalton
22. Grade 5 teacher: forget. Hmm, guess my memory isn't that great afterall.
23. My first pair of glasses were bought in grade 3.
24. I hated giving my sister the clothes I outgrew.
25. My sister had a bunk bed, I did not.
26. My Mom always let us have our friends over for playdates.
27. I thought my parents were the best, most untouchable people in the World.
28. War? What's that?
29. I snuck pet caterpillars into the house.
30. My sister was my best friend, our baby brother was our make believe pet :)

Friday, August 5, 2011

I am writing to say, once again, that we did not complete our last month's challenge. It has turned our stomachs inside out knowing that we have failed miserably... again. Instead of taking this challenge into August, I thought that we will still work on the video challenge in August, but add something easier as well.

As August's 30 Day Challenge I will be soul searching. I know, it isn't that over the top awesome, but it is certainly a challenge. Each day we will write down 30 things about ourselves. Hopefully by the end of August some wonderful memories will have found their way back into my heart, and it is with fingers crossed that I hope to find out what it is I truly want out of life.

So, here is my first list.

30 Things About Becca:
1. I have a daughter, who was born asleep, named Annabelle.
2. I have a life partner, who is named Ian.
3. I am 19 years old.
4. My birthday is December 18th, 1991.
5. The sun makes me very, very sleepy. In fact, everything makes me very sleepy.
6. I have the best Mom in the World.
7. Family is the most important aspect of my life.
8. I have a variety of religious beliefs. I think it's safe to say I believe and don't believe in nearly everything.
9. I sleep on the comfiest, squishiest bed ever!
10. I want so badly to make a huge difference in this world.
11. I work in a call centre for Charter Communications - employing Canadians to act as technical support for those in the US who actually have their services.
12. I hope to be pregnant with our rainbow baby in the next 2 years, at the very most.
13. I love my little 3 person family. Together, Ian, myself, and Annabelle are a strong and united front.
14. Although I have had a child, I am still treated like a child but a select few individuals, and I absolutely despise it.
15. My favourite colours were once blue and purple.
16. Since learning about Annabelle, my favourite colours have changed to pink and yellow (the sunset, sunrise, sunshine, like her).
17. I never trusted anyone until I met a fellow "BLM" (baby loss Mom). I trust all of my friendly BLMs.
18. My hands and my feet are always cold.
19. Cheerios with strawberry milk is my favourite breakfast food (thanks, Mom).
20. Ladybugs are beginning to remind me of Annabelle. They have popped up everywhere over the past year.
21. I love my mac :)
22. I'm going on a trip to Europe with the love of my life for 2 months, leaving October 1st.
23. I have a graphic design diploma.
24. I do not want to be a graphic designer.
25. Because of graphic design school, I am now $5500 in debt and was told it will take 90 months of $75 monthly payments to be rid of this evil amount of money.
26. My Dad may not always show it, but he loves his children and I will forever be thankful for that. He isn't perfect. No one is.
27. I wish I had time to lie in the sun and tan.
28. I spent $16 on shitty sunscreen today - eek!
29. I wish I could spend more time with my cousins.
30. I love Aveeno hand cream.